Well, I have played Dwarfs for around 5 years now, so ignoring painting and comp, I figured I'd just list the things that I take and why.
First of all, I never use an Anvil of Doom. Alot of people seem to like it, but I feel it is very ineffective. I'm not going to go into detail, nor will I rebut any rebuttals against this. If you think the Anvil is good, that's fine. I always go with a Lord on shieldbearers. It gives him a great armor save and makes him immune to killing blow, which is fantastic. I also always run him in a big block of Hammerers. And..I always have the BSB in or near that unit. A block of 20 guys, immune to fear and terror, and rerollable stubborn on a 9 is an amazingly resilient unit. I've been back and forth on the Lord as far as defensive build vs. offensive. I think both are ok and work well depending on your play style. Ironbreakers are also very good, but getting stubborn and immune to fear and terror far outweighs a +1 armor save in my opinion.
Other things as far as effectiveness: Bolt Throwers, of course. Organ Guns are solid. Thunders are amazing. My favorite unit in the army is the Gyrocoptor. I'm never very aggressive with it, but the opponent always feels like he needs to deal with it, so it easily disrupts his army.
Finally, I don't know many people that do this, but 2 units of 5 miners. Dwarfs biggest disadvantage is the inability to move. My having 2 units of 5 miners, they can take or contest table quarters for 200 points.
Here is the list that I am currently running when I play dwarves.
Lord - Shieldbearers, Flaming attacks with x2 Str against To5. 1+ armor save rerollable, immune to fire and 2+ ward vs. first wound
Thane - BSB - MR(2), units within 12" get a free move
Runesmith - 3 dispel scrolls.
Hammers x20 full command, Standard - units within 6" get 5+ ward against shooting
Thunders(10 )x2
Warriors(20 )x2 3+ armor save
Hammerers(10 )x2 - used to flank charge things that charge the big block of hammerers or the warrior blocks. Can take a charge if necessary due to stubborn.
Bolt Throwersx2 - both Str 7
Organ Gunx2
Again, this doesn't take into account the amount of time to paint or the models that you have.
First of all, I never use an Anvil of Doom. Alot of people seem to like it, but I feel it is very ineffective. I'm not going to go into detail, nor will I rebut any rebuttals against this. If you think the Anvil is good, that's fine. I always go with a Lord on shieldbearers. It gives him a great armor save and makes him immune to killing blow, which is fantastic. I also always run him in a big block of Hammerers. And..I always have the BSB in or near that unit. A block of 20 guys, immune to fear and terror, and rerollable stubborn on a 9 is an amazingly resilient unit. I've been back and forth on the Lord as far as defensive build vs. offensive. I think both are ok and work well depending on your play style. Ironbreakers are also very good, but getting stubborn and immune to fear and terror far outweighs a +1 armor save in my opinion.
Other things as far as effectiveness: Bolt Throwers, of course. Organ Guns are solid. Thunders are amazing. My favorite unit in the army is the Gyrocoptor. I'm never very aggressive with it, but the opponent always feels like he needs to deal with it, so it easily disrupts his army.
Finally, I don't know many people that do this, but 2 units of 5 miners. Dwarfs biggest disadvantage is the inability to move. My having 2 units of 5 miners, they can take or contest table quarters for 200 points.
Here is the list that I am currently running when I play dwarves.
Lord - Shieldbearers, Flaming attacks with x2 Str against To5. 1+ armor save rerollable, immune to fire and 2+ ward vs. first wound
Thane - BSB - MR(2), units within 12" get a free move
Runesmith - 3 dispel scrolls.
Hammers x20 full command, Standard - units within 6" get 5+ ward against shooting
Thunders(10 )x2
Warriors(20 )x2 3+ armor save
Hammerers(10 )x2 - used to flank charge things that charge the big block of hammerers or the warrior blocks. Can take a charge if necessary due to stubborn.
Bolt Throwersx2 - both Str 7
Organ Gunx2
Again, this doesn't take into account the amount of time to paint or the models that you have.
